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🚀 Take Control of Your Health: Why Patient Engagement is the Future of Healthcare
Taking the Reins: Why Modern Individuals Crave Control in Healthcare and Thrive on Engagement
Before, healthcare was a paternalistic system where doctors felt they held all the power, and patients would be told what to do and just follow. But today’s healthcare landscape is undergoing significant change. People increasingly want a seat at the table, that is, to make decisions about their care, tracking their own health data, taking proactive steps in managing their health. The change in behavior is the result of numerous factors, including, the proliferation of health information, advancements in technology, and worries about the state of the quality, and the cost of healthcare. In this post, we explore the reasons why modern individuals desire the power to make healthcare decisions for themselves, as well as how taking an active role in one’s own care can pay off in many ways — both with respect to one’s health and one’s own sense of satisfaction.
1. The Shift Toward Patient-Centric Healthcare
Patient-centric has been one of the largest changes in healthcare over the course of the past few years. Rather than the traditional paternalistic healthcare systems in which the doctor made most decisions and the patients had little or no input, this approach is quite different. A 2022 study in The Journal of Patient Experience indicates that patient-centered care, or patient-centered care where the focus is on individual needs preferences, and values, enhances health results and patient fulfillment (Hibbard et al., 2022). But with digital health tools ranging from telemedicine to wearables to health apps, patients have much more control over their health than ever before. As a matter of fact, research shows that somewhere into the 30th percentile (or more) of U.S. adults use wearables such as the Fitbit or Apple Watch to track physical activity, heart rate, and sleep patterns (Harris, 2023). While this shift is about technology, it is really about a shift in the way two parties involved in healthcare interact, collaborate, and share decision-making and substitute top-down authority.
